Bats - The Only Flying Mammals.

About Bats ♣ Some Facts About Bats ♣ Get rid of BATS From Your Home? ♣ Not Aggressive Animal ♣ About Echolocation ~ Bats in Wikipedia ♣ Vampire Bats - Video ♣ Bats in Twitter ♣ Rabies carriers? ♣ Guest Book

These are the world's most misunderstood creatures. But bats are actually moderate, shy mammals that are very useful to humans. The bat is described as a mouse like night-time flying mammal of the family Chiroptera. It is an animal with forelimbs altered to form wings. They travel through and hunt prey by echolocation. Bats are the lone mammals that can truly fly.

The bat droppings in caves where they live can support a whole host of ecosystems including bacteria useful in detoxifying wastes. These creatures able to eat more than 600 insects in less than an hour, as well as a huge amount of flies, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles etc. they are natural pest control agents. A notable bat fact is one that makes farmers and homeowners love them: a lone bat can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in just 1 hour!

Most micro bats are on the go at night or at twilight. People are habitually wrong about is they think bats are blind. The long-standing saying goes 'as blind as a bat' but in fact, bats actually have very good vision. They can see almost as well as us and while their sight is definitely better in the darkness, they can still see pretty well. A number of bats even see in color!

Differing to popular misconception, apart from good eye sight, bats have admirable power of echolocation so they do not get caught in your hands? Their wings are much thinner than those of other birds; they can fly more rapidly and more accurately than birds. By emitting high-frequency sounds and listening to the echoes (sonar), micro bats track down the prey and other nearby objects. This is the process of echolocation, a talent they share with Whales and dolphins. Researches also show that bats create all kinds of sounds to communicate with others. Researchers in the field have took note to bats and have been able to recognize some sounds with some behavior, bats will make right after the sounds are made.

Wild Bats seldom transmit disease (rabies) to other animals or humans and often risk their lives to share their food with less fortunate mates. In fact Vampire bats adopt orphans and care for them as their own!

Their slow breeding makes them in a weak position to extinction. They also, just like us, give food to their young by pectoral breasts until they are old enough to get food for themselves. The common life-span of a bat is similar to ours as well, as they can live up to forty or fifty years old. The greater part of bats could fit in the palm of your hand!

Here are some other remarkable facts: Some seeds will not sprout unless they have passed through the digestive system of a bat - so fruit bats spread millions of seeds every year enabling many types of plants and trees to grow and bear more fruit. Also, like bees, some species of bats pollinate plants. In fact, some types of plants would not survive without the bats that feed on their nectar and pollen. Examples of these are avocados, bananas, peaches, mangos, figs and dates.

Most bats do not drink blood. Nearly 70 per cent of bat species are insectivorous, tracing their victim by means of echolocation. Others most feed on fruits and their juices. Some species even prey on vertebrates. These are the leaf-nosed bats of Central America and South America, and the two bulldog bat varieties, which feed on fish. At least two species of bat are known to feed on other bats. One is the Spectral Bat, also called the American False Vampire, and the other one is Ghost Bat of Australia. The Greater Noctule bat, is supposed to catch and eat small birds in the air.

The only enduring method to get rid of bats from a home and keep them out is: blocking them by bat-proofing. Bats often rest in dark, peaceful areas, such as attics and wall spaces. The entry points are habitually near the roof edge, such as under the roof space, soffits or loose boards, openings in the roof or vents, or gap around the chimney. Occasionally bats will settle at the back of shutters or under boards without entering the home. While the purpose is to seal off all of the actual and possible bat entry points, care must be taken to follow the proper procedures to avoid the bats inside the house.

Using chemicals to killing bats inside the house is not advisable. The use of chemicals only increases the chances that children and pets will came in contact with sick bats.

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Bat is not generally an aggressive animal. But, care should be taken to avoid direct contact, even with evidently healthy bats. Strange behaviors, such as a bat trembling on the floor, or a bat flying in midday, is motive for particular care to get out of all human or animal contact with the bat.

It was discovered in the year 1930s that bats use high pitched sounds like a natural sonar to detect food and navigate. All bats can see, yet bats have developed the use of Echolocation to find food when steering and hunting for food at night time. Bats create high-frequency sounds, and the echoes of these sounds spring back which enables a bat to build a mental map. Use up this mental map they are able to get out of the smallest of blockages whilst locating their prey. In just a split second Echlocation allows bats to fix the size of objects, their position, how fast they are travelling and even their texture!

Bats have established a name as rabies carriers. Even though they can receive and transmit rabies, less than one per cent of wild bats test positive for rabies, according to the Organization for Bat Conservation. However most bats don't have rabies, it is a worthy idea to exercise caution if you are exposed to a bat. If you locate a bat in your residence and don't know if you have been bitten or not, it is a safe idea to begin rabies treatment as a safety measure. Bat bites are commonly painless and are so small that it is not possible to tell if you have been bitten, especially if you have been sleeping while a bat has been in your room.

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